Bharti enters mobile handset business

In what could give jitters to players like Nokia, Samsung and other such stables, Bharti on Sunday announced its entry into the fast-growing mobile handset business.

Group firm Beetel launched eight handsets in the price range of Rs 1,750-7,000.

Bharti is India's number one mobile service provider with over 140 million subscribers and the company recently acquired Zain Telecom in Africa to expand its footprint to 16 countries.

Making an announcement, Beetel Teletech Limited (a Bharti group firm) executive director and CEO Vinod Sawhny said, "The market is huge and there is a room for Indian players . . .  Phones in the price range of Rs 2,000-6,000 are witnessing 30 per cent growth and we plan to offer a good combination of feature-rich phones at affordable prices."

India is one of the fastest growing markets, with annual shipments of about 130 million mobile devices, he said, adding, "It was important for a group company, Beetel, to enter the market with a product for masses that is different from others."

Asked whether Beetel would bundle its handsets with Airtel services, Sawhny said, "We shall be talking to all the GSM players for bundling our handsets and it will not be restricted to only the group's flagship company."

He added the company was a long-term player and had set an ambitious target of being among the top five players in the next three years.

To begin with, Beetel would have an in-house design facility in India and operate on a business model under which manufacturing would be done in and outside, but with innovation done locally.

The entire range of Beetel phones has features like dual SIMs, FM and cameras, thus ensuring the range is contemporary.